


A Wasteland Holiday

by Rosie2009



Series: My Fallout 4 Fanfiction [3]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Best Friends, Christmas, Epic Friendship, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-10-05 14:45:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17326973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009
Summary: Nora (the female Sole Survivor), Piper, Danse, Shaun, and the rest of the gang celebrate Christmas and enjoy the magic as well as beauty of giving. I don't own Fallout 4. Which is very unfortunate.





	1. A Rather Pitiful Start

**Author's Note:**

> Fair Warning: This story is super duper fluffy, dramatic, and I also ship the Female Sole Survivor (Nora) and Paladin Danse. Just thought I'd let you know before you dove in. ;)

“It took me forever and a half, but we have officially found a Christmas tree!” Nora happily announced, holding up a bedraggled fake Christmas tree proudly as if it were some sort of great prize.

“Note the emphasis on the forever and a half,” Piper noted, crossing her arms over her chest and throwing a grin in Nora’s direction as she leaned against the doorway.

“Well, at least you were able to find something. All we got was three broken decorative balls, two dirty old candles, and a half-naked Santa Claus tree topper,” MacCready grumbled and gestured toward the junk spread on the table. 

“I think you neglected to mention our run-in with the excessive amount of radroaches hiding in the attic. Apparently, they were growing a nice little family in there,” Nick commented, humorlessly chuckling.

“A lot of piles of dung involved, that’s for sure,” Hancock rasped and smirked at the glare that was cast his way by MacCready.

“Gah, don’t remind me. That stench is going to stick with me forever,” the mercenary complained, unconsciously shuddering at the thought.

“Come on, MacCready, don’t be a baby. Me, Blue, and Dogmeat had to go head to head with whole hordes of feral ghouls in every supermarket imaginable, just the three of us.”

“Well, that’s nice. Didja happen to forget the fact that I happened to be there with you the whole time?!” Cait loudly demanded with a shake of her fist.

“Oh, yeah. You were somewhere caught up in the fray. I hardly noticed. Blue and I were so busy kicking cuckoo creep keister that I never saw what you were doing. Where were you anyway? Hiding?”

“Ungrateful little-”

“Anyways, Curie, Codsworth, and Strong? What did you guys come up with?” Nora asked quickly in an attempt to divert the fight that she knew would come if she left the two girls to their bickering. “Oh, and, MacCready, I think that the topper you found will do quite nicely.”

The mercenary nodded in response giving her a thumbs up.

“Hopefully you will have shown competence where the other party has a deficit,” X6-88 spoke in his usual emotionless monotone.

“I am quite pleased to report, mum, that we have collected a small wealth of Christmas decorations in the neighbor’s attics. Hopefully, they won’t mind too much if we make use of them while they’re away,” Codsworth informed dutifully, his usual naivety to the facts of their world shining through as he referenced times passed. “But you will likely need to find more, considering the size of the tree you have brought in.”

“Excellent work!” Nora complimented, grinning widely at Codsworth, Curie, and Strong. “And I’ll be sure to gather some volunteers to help me gather more ornaments.”

“Oh, I forgot to ask. Did you happen to sustain any injury on your expedition for a Christmas tree?” Curie questioned, moving in closer to Nora and inspecting all of the woman that she could access.

“No, no. I’m good, Curie. I happened to have the best backup that anyone could ask for,” Nora bragged about the two girls and the dog behind her.

“Aww, stop it. You’re makin’ me blush,” Cait joked, rolling her eyes a bit. However, the completely content smile on her face spoke volumes.

“You held your own, Blue. I didn’t have to do too much,” Piper confidently told her, but the vault-dweller couldn’t help but note the extra-bright twinkle in her eyes and the light tint of red covering her cheeks.

Nora smiled widely at the two but it quickly turned to a frown as she glanced around the room, noticing the absence of two other very important people in her life.

“Where’s Danse and Shaun?”


	2. Shaun's Secret Gift

“Look, kid, I really don’t think that your mother would like you being out here. Especially with the temperature being this low,” Danse told the child, pulling his large wool-lined coat tighter around him. He huffed a bit at the child’s lack of attentiveness to his statement as the little boy continued looking around on the ground.

“Don’t worry, I’m not that cold. Besides, I gotta get Mom the perfect gift. I just need the right sizes of rocks,” Shaun replied, kneeling down and picking through a group of small rocks.

Danse stopped short behind the boy, albeit shocked at the sudden halt. He rolled his eyes. Of course, he should’ve expected the child’s sudden stop. He’d been doing it periodically since they had left Sanctuary Hills.

“Wow! Check out what I found!” Shaun hopped to his feet, turning to the ex-Brotherhood Paladin and extending his hand just shy of the man’s nose. Danse leaned backward and examined the item in the proffered appendage.

It was a small, round rock that, at least to Danse, was as common as bloodbugs covering a Brahmin carcass.

“That’s… certainly something, kid,” the soldier told him, trying to be kind and understanding despite the fact that he thought it was useless and a waste of time.

“I know, right! It’s so cool!” Shaun retracted his hand, stuffing the rock in a coat pocket and continuing on the narrow road they had ended up on.

Danse took in the appearance of the world around them. It was oddly beautiful and a great contrast to their usual world. Snow with a bit of a green glow to it covered the ground and their was a strange quiet that had the soldier albeit on edge. He knew better than to allow their serene surroundings to lull him into a false sense of security.

And thanks to this alertness, he was quick to notice the fact that there seemed to be one of the highly dangerous, and semi-frequent Winter rad-storms forming above them.

“Shaun, we have to go home now. There’s a storm coming,” Danse informed the boy, grabbing his shoulder and attempting to redirect him to the way they had come.

“But I haven’t found all the rocks I need and Christmas is just five days away! Mom’s got to have the perfect gift. Can we stay a little longer? Please, Mister Danse?” Shaun begged, looking up at the man with a pout. 

Even with all of his training, Danse still felt himself caving with the little boy’s sad expression. He glanced up at the angry-looking clouds and then moved his gaze back to the child. 

He sighed and shook his head, nearly unable to believe what he was about to say.

“Fine, we’ll stay a bit longer,” the soldier finally conceded. Shaun grinned widely and turned to continue his search amongst the rocks. 

Danse truly couldn’t understand just what inspired him to allow the child to continue despite the threat of a radiation storm. It must’ve been something to do with the child’s ability to replicate Nora’s adorable pout perfectly. He found he never could resist Nora’s pouty face. She rarely used it, but when she did, he found that he couldn’t bring himself to decline her whatever it was she requested. 

Of course, Nora meant more to Danse than any other person ever had. She was his savior. The only reason that the Brotherhood hadn’t killed him when they discovered he was a synth. She was one of a kind and he sometimes felt so close to her that it scared him.

Sometimes the feelings he had surrounding her were frightening. The urge to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless was one that he certainly didn’t know how to cope with. He was sure that particular feeling was definitely not one that friends had for other friends.

Danse followed the boy a little further before he heard the loud, grumbling roar of thunder.

“Come on, we’re going now,” Danse commanded, scooping Shaun into his arms and moving quickly down the path.

“Oh, man… I didn’t even manage to get all the rocks I needed,” Shaun whined a bit from his perch on Danse’s shoulder.

“Somebody will take you out tomorrow to get some,” Danse reassured him, scurrying quickly. 

Thankfully for them, they weren’t too far from Sanctuary Hills and before too long Danse found himself springing past some bushes and rushing toward the house that was the center of the settlement.  
He strode beside the picket fence and sat the boy down when they were just short of the patio. Once Shaun was on the ground, Danse put a hand on his back and guided him toward the doorway where everyone was gathered inside. 

“Shaun!” Nora exclaimed, getting down on her knees and opening her arms widely as a small body collided against her own.

“Mom!” Shaun cried, hugging her tightly. Danse supposed it had been about a week since the kid had seen her and the boy likely would follow her around for a while.

Nora pulled away finally and put her hands on his shoulders. 

“So, what’s my favorite guy been up to today?” Nora questioned with a grin. Shaun smiled back just as widely.

“Not much. Me and Mister Danse went exploring,” Shaun told her. Danse raised a brow, impressed with the child’s ability to cover up what he had truly been doing. 

“Well, that sounds cool! Did you see anything interesting?” Nora asked, standing up and glancing at Danse with a smile. 

“Nah, not really. But we were almost caught in a rad-storm,” Shaun said, unzipping his coat as he spoke. Nora’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Okay… Sounds pretty interesting to me,” Nora admitted, smiling wryly as she looked down at her little boy.

“A little too interesting. You sure that’s the whole story?” Piper questioned, an eyebrow raised in curiosity as she subtly reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her notebook.

“Yep,” Shaun replied quickly. Danse shook his head a bit, watching the child with a nearly imperceptible smile.

“Uh-huh…” Danse just knew that Piper wouldn’t lay off of the kid until she got her answers. “You’ve got that guilty look. I know it perfectly. Trust me, my sister uses it all the time,” Piper watched Shaun intently, an expression of determination mixed with childish glee spread across her face.

“Oh, goodness, you just reminded me. We still have to go get Nat from Diamond City,” Nora suddenly spoke, turning to Piper with a hand on Shaun’s shoulder.

“You’re leaving again?” Shaun disappointedly questioned. Danse furrowed his brow and looked at the ground. He felt bad for the kid, but he also knew that Nora was a busy woman. She took it as her full responsibility to help anyone and everyone, even if it was something as seemingly simple as fetching a child from a town.

Nora’s eyes softened and she turned back to her boy.

“Don’t worry, pal, I’ll be back before you know it. Probably even before tomorrow afternoon if I leave now,” Nora reassured him, cradling his face in her hands and kissing his forehead.

“Alright,” Shaun hesitantly replied.

Nora then stood up and looked out the window. Danse followed her gaze and noticed that the haze of green had left the area. Rad-storms were strange in that manner. They had the capacity to disappear as quickly as they appeared. Nora then turned her head back to the reporter and gestured between her and Piper.

“You with me?”

“I think I’m gonna sit this one out, Blue. I completely trust that you’ll get her here safe,” Piper nodded to Nora with a small smile. 

Danse raised an eyebrow and eyed the reporter. He noticed quickly that she had her eye on Shaun. Knowing her, she’d likely try to figure out about his little secret. Danse figured that she could be trusted not to tell Nora. Even if Nora was Piper’s best friend.

Nora hummed curiously with a questioning raise of her brow, but then turned to the group of people around her.

“Anybody else want to come?”

Dogmeat ran over to her quickly with a gleeful bark, circling her quickly and licking her hand.

“I would like to. It would be wonderful to leave Sanctuary Hills and go see the countryside again,” Curie volunteered. Danse caught the strange look that Nora shot at the synth. She seemed to be sizing her up, presumably to ensure that she looked human enough to be able to pass through Diamond City.

“I’m up for another run,” Cait offered, approaching the blue-clad woman.

“You just went. Are you sure you want to go?” Nora questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, sure. I like bein’ out n’ about.”

“Alright, then. Well, we’ll be back!” 

Everyone nodded their head or grunted or called out something in return and dispersed from the room except for a select few.

Danse turned to leave and rolled his eyes upon the realization that Piper and Shaun seemed to be the only ones left in the room. It was obviously a happenstance to the young journalist’s design.

Well, no one could claim that Piper Wright wasn’t persistent.


	3. Piper's Interrogation

Piper quietly surveyed as everyone in the room eventually disappeared. Except for Shaun.

She raised an eyebrow and curiously watched as he turned his back to her and pulled something out of his pocket to look at it. After a moment, she cleared her throat and tapped him on the shoulder.

Surprised, he spun around quickly, tucking his hand in his pocket.

“So, squirt, you gonna talk to me about what caused you and soldier boy to almost get stuck in a rad-storm?” Piper asked, her nosy reporter instincts kicking in full-force as she peered down at the boy with her lips pursed in expectation.

“Well… You promise not to tell Mom?” Shaun questioned, looking at her uncertainly. 

“Don’t worry, Shaun, I’m not telling Blue anything. I’m the queen of secrets,” Piper smirked, shrugging coolly. 

“Mom always says you’re the person that unveils the truth,” Shaun skeptically told her, raising his eyebrow.

“Look, as long as it’s not incriminating to any person, I can keep a secret just fine. So, spill, kiddo.”

“Okay. Well, I’m trying to make her something. A picture. I’m going to use pebbles and sticks to decorate it,” the boy explained, looking up at Piper as he extended the hand that was stuffed in his pocket. She smiled affectionately, feeling her insides turn to goo at the sweet sentiment. 

“I think that your mom will absolutely love it. Is there any way I can help you?”

“Well… I need to go out and get some more. Would you mind coming with me? Mister Danse says I have to have someone to go with me,” Shaun pouted, looking adorably grumpy as he stuffed the pebbles and twigs back into his pocket and Piper had to stifle a giggle.

“Y’know, kid, a lot of the stuff that comes out of that moron’s mouth is for the birds,” Piper told the child, pulling out a pack of gumdrops and grabbing Shaun’s hand to put some of them in his palm, “but he’s got you there.” Piper looked at the ground as she popped a few of the sweet candies in her mouth. 

After a moment, she swallowed and looked back up at Shaun with a small smile. “Whaddya say you hit me up tomorrow, and we’ll head out together, huh?” 

“Really?! Thank you so much, Miss Piper!” the little boy expressed, his eyes alight with sheer joy from her agreeance as he launched himself into the reporter’s arms excitedly. She hesitated only a moment before wrapping him in a warm embrace. 

“It’s nothin’, kiddo. I got your back,” Piper replied, a giant grin spread across her face. 

Shaun then pulled away and looked down at the ground. Piper furrowed her brow and looked at the boy.

“What is it?”

“I just… I miss Mom. She’s not home much, and I don’t get to see her,” Shaun dejectedly told the young woman.

Piper sighed, her eyes softening in sympathy for the kid.

“Listen, Shaun. Your mom loves you more than anything in the world. She’s always picking up everything that she can get her hands on to bring back home to you. She talks every day about you. I can’t even get her to shut up sometimes. ‘Cause trust me, your mom can talk the ears off a billy goat,” Piper chuckled, ruffling Shaun’s hair. He laughed with her, trying to duck away from the offending gloved hand.

“C’mon, those gumdrops weren’t enough to satiate the sugar beast. I got some sweet rolls with our names on them. Provided that stupid dog didn’t get into them again,” the reporter huffed, grabbing Shaun’s shoulder and guiding him out the door.


	4. Picking Up Nat

Nora strolled into Diamond City, admiring the extra-shiny glow that seemed to be surrounding the entirety of the settlement. 

People were bustling about through the hubbub of the center of the city. Takahashi even seemed to be selling more noodles than usual. Children were rushing all around. 

She had always loved Christmas with its magical beauty. She remembered when she would cover her and Nate’s entire house with red ribbons, softly glowing candles, and more sets of golden, silver, and white glassware than she could ever hope to count.

As she had told Piper in her interview, it filled her with so much hope to see people trying to live some semblance of the life that Nora had before. 

“It’s really disgustingly cheery, isn’t it?” Cait suddenly complained, tearing Nora from her memories. Nora narrowed her eyes and shot the redhead a glare.

“What? I’m just sayin’.”

“Oh, Mademoiselle Cait, I do not know how you can dislike all of this! It is the most beautiful that I have ever seen this place look,” Curie disagreed, looking around with an expression of childlike wonder in her eyes.

Nora shook her head and began descending the stairs, trying to spot a certain newsgirl. 

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kiddin’ me. It’s tacky,” Cait countered. Nora glanced at the front of Piper’s house. Perhaps Nat was inside?

Nora finally reached the bottom of the stairs and walked over to Piper’s front door. She knocked on the door carefully.

“Nat?” Nora called. “You there, kiddo?” After a few moments, there was no sign of any sort of life inside the house, and Nora was just about to turn and start searching the rest of the city. To her great surprise, the door suddenly opened.

Nat’s head peeked out and she surveyed the group. After a moment of searching for something, presumably her sister, Nat finally opened the door completely and gave Nora an unimpressed look.

“Gee, you sure took your own sweet time getting here.” Nora rolled her eyes and gently nudged the kid’s arm.

“What about, ‘Thank you, dearest darlingest Auntie Nora, for fetching me in time for Christmas?’”

“Ha, ha. That’s not going to happen in a million years. The day I call you Auntie Nora is the day I kiss Sheng Kawolski,” Nat scoffed, eyeing the vault-dweller with an expression somewhere between mild hatred and mischief. 

“Okay, first, ouch. And second, you already have kissed Sheng,” Nora smugly replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“I meant kissing him willingly. Besides, he kissed me.” Before Nora could respond to that particular comment, someone began yelling.

“Hey, Vault-Dweller? Hey, I need to talk to you for a second!” a voice shouted. Nora turned to face a certain businessman- or businessboy- as he ran toward her. 

“Speak of the Devil,” Nat mumbled grumpily. Nora heard Cait suppress a snicker at the young girl’s expense and Curie cleared her throat awkwardly.

“There you are, Vault-Dweller. I’ve got a proposition for you.”

“Sheng, if this is another run through your water, I’m going to have to decline. It’s freezing out,” Nora told him, pulling the collar of her coat closer around her neck as a gust of chilly breeze whipped against her.

“Oh, no. Not that,” Nora exhaled relievedly, “but something related to that.” Nora clamped her lips tightly shut, strongly resisting the urge to groan. 

“And what would that be?”

“I was thinking about running the water from the sewers just under Diamond City into my water reserves.” 

Nora sighed, knowing precisely what this would entail- an entire journey just to get uncomfortably wet and positively freezing. 

Nora was always game for helping someone when she could, but cold was one of her few crippling weaknesses. Perhaps her only. She knew it had something to do with her time frozen in Vault 111. 

“Sorry, bud, but I don’t have time to do that right now. I have to escort Nat to Sanctuary Hills.” Nora gestured to the girl beside her, hoping that Sheng would just give up on his crazy scheme. She turned away from him, grabbing Nat’s shoulder and trying to quickly guide her out of the city.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Sheng grabbed the slim fur of Nora’s blue coat. She begrudgingly turned back to face the boy. 

“Aw, crap, I thought we were gonna ditch the dodo,” Nat muttered under her breath. Nora squeezed her shoulder, silently reprimanding the girl for her rudeness.

“C’mon, all you have to do is place a grenade in one of the shallower parts of the water here at Diamond City and it’ll go kablam!!! Therefore, allowing a successful businessman such as myself a whole new reserve of water waiting just below the surface. It’ll be easy!” he pleaded. Nora shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. Surely, she was getting too old for this. 

“I’ll pay good caps for it. I promise. As soon as you bust the hole.” Nora skeptically eyed the boy before her.

Every fiber of her being was warning against the idea. She knew that, logically, it couldn’t possibly work. Water didn’t just wait beneath the surface, and when it did, it would undoubtedly spew upward and likely flood the area. 

But there was the slight chance that Sheng did know what he was talking about, and after all, how could she refuse a child as endearing as him? He had such large aspirations in his small little frame, and she couldn’t help but admire him for it. 

So, after great deliberation, Nora released Nat and headed in the direction of Sheng’s water pool.

“I don’t want payment. Where is the area you want the hole blown?” Nora tiredly questioned, heading for Sheng’s home on the dock.

“So, you’ll do it?! Great! I had a place planned right over here,” the boy enthusiastically told her, rushing over to the narrow wooden walkway above the water.

Nora, however, was very unenthusiastically standing at the water’s edge on the dock and peering down into the pit of freezing cold below her with a look of dread. 

“You think you could put it there?” the boy pointed to a particular area in the water.

“This is very, very hazardous. I do wish that you were not doing this. It is highly against all safety regulations,” Curie protested, reluctantly leaving the vault-dweller’s side to step back at a safe distance.

Nora rolled the sleeves of her coat up to her elbows and she laid down on the boards of the dock carefully. She took a grenade from her belt and she yanked the pin from it, jabbing it into the water and in the dirt of the bottom quickly.

“Get out quick!” Nora shouted, moving upward and out of the area in one fluid motion. She moved swiftly, and spotted Sheng, Nat, Cait, and Curie already hiding behind a building. 

She suddenly heard the explosion, and she turned around just in time to feel the impact and see the water spray into the air. 

Everyone watched silently with bated breath, and Nora couldn’t help but wonder if the water would sprout in a geyser-like fashion. 

After a few moments, Nora had decided that it was probably most likely not going to explode any more than it already had. The blue-clad woman felt Sheng bump into her as he ran past her. 

“YES! This should work great! Thanks!” he expressed, and she couldn’t help but smile a bit. He was a cute kid, and she was glad she could help him out. Even if it did seem like a really bad idea originally. At least it seemingly turned out alright in the end. 

“Well, Sheng, Merry Christmas and I wish you the very best with your new water reserves. Us ladies gotta hit the road,” Nora told him, smiling at him fondly. She jumped a bit when Dogmeat suddenly barked nearby her. Nora looked down at the German Shepherd and laughed a bit at the expectant expression on his face.

“And gentleman. Sorry, buddy,” she apologized to the dog. He licked her hand in a show of his forgiveness. 

“Well, alright. If you have to.” Sheng then walked up to the girl standing nearby the vault-dweller.

“But before you go….” Sheng then pulled out a piece of a plant that Nora had not seen in a very long time – mistletoe.

“No. Never gonna happen, you bald-headed baby,” Nat announced, plucking the mistletoe from the boy’s hand and throwing it over her shoulder.

“Well, I thought it would at least be worth a try.”

“See you!” Nora called out, waving to the boy with a smile as she and the rest of her ragtag group left.

“Good grief, I don’t know why you insist on helping everybody. Especially Sheng Kawolski,” Nat complained once they were out of earshot.

Nora eyed the girl with a curious glance.

“Why not help everybody? It’s Christmas, Nat. You’ve got to have some spirit. It’s a time of good deeds and kindness,” Nora told her, a happy grin spreading across her face at the sight of Takahashi’s noodle shop. 

“Yeah, yeah. Christmas spirit only goes so far before the bad guys take advantage of you, and you’re killed dead.”

“I didn’t know you could kill someone without them dying,” Nora offhandedly mentioned, chuckling a bit. She quickly stopped, however, once the girl eyed her with a hot glare.

She looked down at the ground, and then glanced around the center of the city. She had to find something that would ease the grumpy child’s mind. At that moment, she spotted the answers to all of her troubles that came in the form of Takahashi’s noodle bar. 

“Hey, would it make you feel any better if I bought you some noodles?” Nora suggested, stepping up to the counter at Takahashi’s with an enthusiastic smile.

“T’would make me feel better if ye’d buy me a stiff, cold one. I’m gettin’ tired of the kid’s constant complainin’,” Cait piped up, huffing a bit. 

“I believed that you were done partaking in addicting substances,” Curie told her, furrowing her brow concernedly as she stared at the redhead.

“That was chems. I never said a thing about stoppin’ me drinkin’.” 

“Settle down, you two. Cait, eat some noodles and be happy. Here, Nat. Curie,” Nora handed out bowls of noodles to all of the girls and then she began eating a bowl of it herself.

Nora then sat down on a stool in front of the counter, watching as Nat, Curie, and Cait joined her on the extra stools that had been added as a result of the increased business from the holidays. 

“Now, isn’t this nice and peaceful? It’s really a good time to think long and hard about the things in life that really matter,” the vault-dweller told Nat kindly, greatly hoping that Nat would calm down and act a bit nicer.

Nat looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah? Then you should’ve brought Piper to come and think with us. She’s obviously forgotten something that matters,” Nat grumbled irritably.

It was then that Nora pinpointed the precise reason for Nat’s cold demeanor. It should’ve been obvious to her before. After all, she did pride herself on knowing her family. Even those few members- practically only Natalie Wright- who didn’t particularly like her.

She also knew that, much to the protest of her always-help-the-people instincts, Piper would be the only one who could calm the preteen. 

So with that resolution, she chose to largely ignore Nat’s comment and instead slurp more of her noodles. 

“Well, not as good as visitin’ the Dugout Inn, but I reckon it’ll do,” Cait proclaimed, seemingly satisfied by simply eating the noodle cup.

“Mademoiselle Cait, I do believe that all things consumable are good if they are not some sort of addicting substance.”


	5. Danse Reveals to Piper His Feelings

    After she took Shaun to get some sweet rolls and sent him on his merry way to go play with Strong- who very strangely always seemed to be up for playing with children’s toys- Piper went to the concrete patio where Danse was currently relaxed against the wall.

   She withdrew from her pocket the Nuka-Cola that she picked up earlier from her special fridge that Nora had put back together for her.

   “So did you grill the poor kid until he told you what you wanted to know?” Danse questioned harshly, silently judging and criticizing with his raised eyebrow as well as cold glare. Piper simply rolled her eyes in response to his attempts at intimidation.

   Piper had learned long ago that he was all bark and no bite. Mostly. But she knew how far she could push him before he snapped. Other than that, she knew he just liked to talk a big game to scare the less brave wastelanders.

   “Gosh, soldier boy, what do you take me for? Some sort of malicious beast? Jeez.” Piper drank a long swig of her Nuka-Cola. She allowed a pause merely for the pure pleasure of aggravating him further. But then she exhaled, breaking the silence, and spoke. “But I did ask him about his little secret, and I’m supposed to go out with him tomorrow to find more stuff for it. It was really sweet.”

   Piper subtly glanced over at the man, gauging his response and feeling quite gratified as a result of his miffed expression. It was a petty accomplishment, but it was so enjoyable to get under Danse’s skin.

   “Hmph,” Danse grumbled in response. Piper was a bit shocked. Generally, Danse had some sort of comment to shoot back at her.

   “Well? Nothing to say about that, huh?”

   “Unlike you, I don’t always have to run my mouth when other people extend the invitation.”

   Piper huffed a bit with laughter, not bothered in the least by his jab.

   “I don’t know. To me, it looked like you suddenly got too high and mighty to talk to a lowly reporter,” Piper smirked, hoping that he was going to reengage in the battle of the wills that she was so interested in continuing.

   “Keep pushing me and you will find yourself in the ground so far that I will look high and mighty simply from your vantage point,” Danse threatened, finally meeting the reporter’s eye. Piper raised a brow curiously. It wasn’t like him to so quickly grow irritable.

   “Gee, okay, okay. I’ll stop. Don’t know what your deal is,” Piper defended with a nigh offended side-glance, settling for drinking more of her Nuka-Cola.

   After a few moments of silence, however, the man spoke up, hesitance lacing his voice.

   “Have you ever… felt something for someone that you didn’t know how to explain?” Piper couldn’t help but recoil a bit in shock. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for a heart-to-heart with some guy that she didn’t even really know too well.

   “I don’t know. I sometimes feel really strong feelings about people. Like I feel a lot of hatred for Mayor McDonough, for example,” she offered unhelpfully, knowing full-well that was not the kind of feelings he was talking about. She was trying to get a hold of her emotions.

   “No, not like that. I mean like,” he sighed, mumbling something under his breath, “feeling something more than friendly about someone.”

   “I take it you feel that way about someone? I assume our resident Pre-War relic?” Piper questioned, resisting a smirk at Danse’s awkwardness but ultimately deciding to throw him a line and draw him out of having to explain it completely thoroughly.

   “No!” He was silent for a moment. Forget saving him- Piper couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

   “If it’s not her… Oh, no. Gosh, I’m flattered, but it’s not gonna happen in a million years, man.” He almost looked as if he’d been slapped and Piper had to hold back a laugh at his shocked expression.

   “NO! I don’t feel that way about you. Or anybody!”

   “Look, big guy, it’s alright if you got a little, teensy-weensy crush on Blue. I’m not a guy, but I can still see that she’s beautiful and kind and all those things that guys like. Physically and personality-wise,” Piper added, rolling her eyes a bit in disgust at the thought of somebody looking at Nora _that_ way.

   He was deathly quiet for a few moments and Piper raised an eyebrow, looking over at him.

   “It’s really more like I’ve… um… fallen in love with her,” Danse mumbled, looking down at his shoes. Piper’s eyes widened comically and her jaw slackened, completely flabbergasted. She knew he was very fond of Nora, but not that fond of her.

   “I apologize for burdening this on you of all people. You’ll likely just go and spread this tantalizing piece of news all over the Commonwealth. I just thought that since you were one of the people that has known Nora the longest and the fact that you know her best, you would maybe know how she felt about me. And if… she could perhaps return my feelings,” Danse admitted stiffly, staring straight ahead. Piper attempted to tame her shocked expression and she sighed a bit, looking over at him and feeling a bit sorry for him.

   She already knew that Nora felt something a little outside of the friendly bracket for him, but she certainly was not going to tell him for fear that it might be wrongly read into and also because she’d never betray Nora in such a way.

   “Hey, if it’s any consolation, I’m not going to tell anyone about your secret. Honestly, I’m glad that you chose to talk to me of all people. But you need to tell her how you feel. She’ll understand. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way, she’d never alienate you from the rest of us,” Piper advised, the corners of her mouth upturning in a smile.

   He looked down at his feet once again, nodding his head a bit.

   Piper cleared her throat a bit, averting her gaze to her nails. She was completely at a loss. She had no idea what to tell him other than that and was desperately trying to think of something to distract her from the awkward conversation she had found herself in the midst of.

   At that moment, however, Codsworth decided to show up and she hadn’t felt more thankful for Nora’s robot butler.

   “Miss Wright, if you don’t mind, we do need your help. Mister MacCready, Detective Valentine, and I set about finding more ornaments. The good news is that we have found more ornaments! But the rather bad news is that we simply cannot get into the highly fortified safe that they happen to be in. We all agreed that you are likely our best option in cracking it open. You know, deft fingers and all,” he explained nervously and Piper found the amount of emotion that he was capable of conveying without a human face was almost humorous. She never was technologically inclined, and the most simple of robots were quite fascinating to her.

   “How do you know that there’s ornaments in the safe?” Piper asked albeit skeptically, sipping her now lukewarm Nuka-Cola that she had just remembered. She couldn’t help spitting it out on the ground upon tasting it. She put the cap back on it and disgustedly eyed it. Piper supposed that was what she got for forgetting about it.

   “We all assumed there were decorations within because of the sloppy handwriting on the outside that indicated it.”

   “Well, let’s go take a look. I’m definitely not a certified lock-picker like some of us, but I’ve watched Blue do it enough. Maybe I’ll have a slight clue on how to do it,” Piper told him, following the Mr. Handy as she shoved the Nuka-Cola in her pocket.

   The two went around the outside edge of one of the old houses and Piper’s eyes widened a bit as she stared at the open cellar.

   “Yowzas. Had no idea _this_ was here,” Piper mentioned offhandedly, expressing her thoughts on the subject as she began her descent.

   “Yes, indeed. It was a little surprising to me as well when I first found it approximately two hundred years ago,” Codsworth replied cheerily. Piper had to consider this for a moment. It was an odd thought for the robot to be so much older than most of the folks around. It was kind of like Nora’s situation. She was way more elderly than her body and mind reflected.

   “So what do you boys got for me down here?” Piper questioned, stepping down onto the smooth concrete of the floor.

   Nick was leaning against the wall, a completely unimpressed expression on his face and MacCready was desperately trying to pick the lock with a little metal rod. As soon as he heard her, however, he threw it down on the floor and put his hands up, completely exasperated.

   “I’m done! This is the singular most frustrating lock I’ve ever had the displeasure of dealing with!” MacCready exclaimed moving over to the bed and plopping down on it, rubbing his face.

   Piper raised an eyebrow, completely unimpressed with MacCready’s ridiculous attempts at trying to unlock it. She picked up the little rod, examining it with slight disdain.

   “Okay. First, you’re gonna need to use a screwdriver,” Piper reached over and grabbed the very convenient tool resting on a nearby concrete block. “And second, you gotta use a bobby pin.” She glanced around, hoping it would be as easy to find as the screwdriver, but to no avail. Piper then proceeded to pat down her pockets, trying to feel for a bobby pin.

   “Anybody happen to have one of those?” Piper inquired, looking at each of the guys. MacCready shrugged, completely clueless; Nick shook his head silently; and Codsworth just looked at her blankly as all Mister Handy bots did when presented with an impossible predicament.

   “Well, that’s great…”


	6. Nagging Nat

  “Let’s set up camp here,” Nora finally told them, and everyone collectively sighed in relief. The tanned woman had taken pity on the poor child- and also had taken pity on Cait’s and Curie’s ears- and decreed that it was time for a rest. Nat had been constantly nagging and complaining and generally just being terribly unpleasant the entire way back. Nora knew everyone was getting sick of it. Heck, even _her_ endless patience was beginning to wane considerably.

   They weren’t too far from Sanctuary Hills, but no one could stand to go another second with Nat. Nora figured if they all got some rest and went the rest of the way the next day, they’d all be more well-equipped to deal with Nat’s griping.

   “Finally,” Cait groaned, and plopped down on the ground, seeming totally exhausted. Curie suddenly got a relieved smile on her face as she stood by Nora loyally. Dogmeat dropped down not too far from Cait, resting his chin on his paws tiredly.

   “I will go and collect firewood. Mademoiselle Cait, would you like to accompany me?” Curie offered, kindly looking down at the redhead. Cait waved her away irritably.

   “No, I’m gonna sit my happy behind right here and not move a muscle,” Cait replied dryly, laying down on the ground carefully and closing her eyes.

   “How long is it going to be before we get to Sanctuary? This is absolutely ridiculous. I thought we’d be there by now,” Nat grumbled, sitting down next to Dogmeat and crossing her arms over her knees with a sullen look on her face. Cait opened an eye barely and rose to her feet upon spotting the child nearby.

   “On second thought… Curie, need help with the wood?” Cait yelled, rushing over to wherever the Frenchwoman had hurried off to.

   Nora reached for her backpack and slung it around her body and onto the ground. She knelt and began to search for the blankets that she had inside of it.

   “Why didn’t Piper come with you?” Nat suddenly demanded. Nora lifted her gaze to the girl. She furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out a good explanation.

   Nat didn’t like Nora. That was certainly no secret. It was a complete mystery to Nora as to why in the world that the kid was wanting to talk to her about this situation. It wasn’t like Nora minded talking to her. Nora wanted to befriend her more than anything. But she was confused as to why she chose to speak with her now.

   “I… I really don’t know, Nat. She seemed a little preoccupied when I left. She was probably on the edge of a story. And you know how she gets with those,” Nora chuckled fondly, knowing that absolutely nothing could get between Piper and her nosiness.

   “Well, she still should’ve come for me,” Nat told her angrily. Nora sighed quietly and pulled out the blankets from her pack. She looked over at the preteen and edged over closer to her, offering the blanket with a kindly expression.

   Nat looked down at the blanket and then up at the vault-dweller. After a moment of hesitation, she took it, murmuring her thanks quietly.

   Nora remained nearby her and looked over at the girl. She was shocked to see a slight sheen of tears in her eyes. Her heart ached painfully as she watched her sadly.

   “What’re you looking at?” Nat asked accusatorily. Nora shook her head but didn’t remove her gaze from the child’s face. It was rather surprising to witness the stoic and, at times, plain insensitive Nat in such a state.

   Nora wanted to comfort her somehow, but at the same time, didn’t want to invoke her easily-conjured wrath. So, she settled with placing her hand on Nat’s knee gently.

   Nat jerked as if she had been burned, but she didn’t move out of Nora’s grasp. Nora just stared straight ahead, watching Curie and Cait’s respective forms as they- mostly Cait with occasional patient protests from Curie- bickered. After a moment, the tanned woman felt Nat’s firm muscles loosen somewhat.

   It was truly sad. Neither Piper nor Nat knew a motherly sort of love. They both seemed so terribly shocked when Nora gave it out freely to them. It was true that Nora was more of a sister to at least Piper, but she still had her mother moments where she would provide Piper with one of those pieces of elder guidance or envelop her in one of her famous emotional embraces that she was known to launch on her close friends when they least expected it.

   At least Piper handled it better than Nat. That much could be said for her. Piper actually seemed to want it as opposed to the younger of the two.

   They silently sat together, Nora providing her quiet comfort that was all she could offer the child at that moment. She avoided turning her gaze to Nat and instead settled her eyes upon the forms of the two women not too far from them.

   The redhead and the Frenchwoman were wandering about, picking up sticks, and Curie looked up and said something. Apparently, Curie had said something that seriously ticked Cait off, because the redhead began chasing Curie with one of her sticks for firewood. Nora couldn’t help but laugh as Cait tried desperately to grab the synth and smack her with the stick. Cait might’ve been more athletic than Curie, but undeniably Curie could run when put in the right situation. Or the wrong situation.

   The corners of Nora’s lips curled into a smile as she heard Nat giggling a bit with her.

   Curie hurried back to them, Cait hot on her trail, and dropped the wood in front of Nora and Nat. She then quickly jumped behind Nora, looking for some sort of protection.

   “Why do ye constantly complain ‘bout me drinkin’?! Not like I guzzle bottle after bottle _all_ the time!” Cait growled, hopping around the two girls on the ground. Nora rolled her eyes, shaking her head in slight exasperation but largely amusement.

   “I apologize. I am programmed to provide you sound health advice always! Eep!!!” Curie squeaked as she dodged Cait’s angry swat in her direction.

   “Yeah, well, I’m getting’ plain tired of it!” Cait darted between Nora and Nat, using Nora’s shoulder to hoist herself over Nat and get closer to Curie.

   Nora had known Cait for a long time, and she knew that she normally had a very large reserve of patience when it came to Curie and her perpetual irritating recommendations. She also was easily able to understand as a result of this that Cait was largely doing this for Nat’s amusement.

   She had to give Cait some credit. Nora didn’t really think that Cait had paid that much attention to what was going on.

   But Curie didn’t seem to realize that the redhead was not really serious about her pursuit, so Nora knew she had to cut in and stop all the antics.

   “Alright, you two, settle down. I’ve got a cigarette lighter here and I’m almost ready to start a fire. The ground’s so bare that I don’t think we need rocks to go around it,” Nora told them, a slightly wobbly smile on her face and a waver in her voice as she resisted the urge to laugh at Curie’s terrified expression.

   But the urge to laugh was almost irresistibly strong when Curie huddled over nearby her as close as she could get, seeming to be having hopes for some sort of protection as Nora pulled out her lighter and newspapers.

   “Don’t worry, me and you got a date with destiny next time ‘round,” Cait warned, pointing at Curie. Nora could see the fondness in her eyes, however, and knew that she didn’t really aim to pummel Curie at all.

   Outwardly, Nora largely ignored that comment and set fire to the old newspapers she had withdrawn from her backpack.

   After only a moment, the fire was crackling, and Nora was passing out forks and containers of radstag meat to each of the people around the fire. She took out an especially big handful for Dogmeat, and he ate it heartily, his tail thumping against the ground happily as Nat scratched him behind the ears.

   “This is actually really good, Nora,” Nat suddenly spoke up. Nora looked up at her, pleasantly surprised to actually hear something good and her name in the same sentence. It was a real achievement when it came to Nat.

   “Well, thank you.”

   “The lil’ wench finally decided to say something nice fer a change,” Cait snarked, grinning wickedly at the vault-dweller and the kid.

   “What Cait means to say is that it’s really nice to see you so pleasant since you’ve been so,” Nora paused, searching for an appropriate and acceptable word to use.

   “Fussy? Irritating? Nagging? Or just a plain bi-”

   “Unhappy! Since you’ve been so unhappy,” Nora finished, interrupting Cait in the middle of her long list of uncouth suggestions.

   “Jus’ tryin’ to help ye out there,” Cait grumbled, taking a bite of the radstag meat. Nora resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Really and truly, the redhead could afford some manners.

   “Mademoiselle Nat, Cait does not mean anything by her crude remarks, so please do not worry. You have not been _entirely_ unpleasant,” Curie reassured, finally working up the courage to speak after she had found herself close by the vault-dweller and had apparently deemed herself to be largely safe.

   “Do ye mean for the first few minutes of the trip after we left Diamond City? Because I’m pretty sure I remember ‘er being unpleasant all the way from the Great Green Jewel to here.”

   “Buzz off, you junkie. At least I’m not an arm-stuffer!” Nat viciously launched her attack.

   Nora sighed as she laid down on her back in the grass, shaking her head in complete aggravation and resignation as the other three began to argue relentlessly. Dogmeat crawled over to her, nestling his body under her arm. Nora stroked the back of his neck lovingly.

   She couldn’t wait for tomorrow when they could dump Nat off on Piper.


End file.
